Nick Linga, owner of Nick's Mart on S. New Braunfels Ave., sells a large number of lottery tickets. Winning tickets are displayed for other customers to see the winnings from his store.

Photo By BOB OWEN/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

A customer walks to Nick's Mart on S. New Braunfels Ave., where sells of lottery tickets are up. Nick's advertises both the Lottery as well as Lone Star welfare card.

Photo By BOB OWEN/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Nick Linga, owner of Nick's Mart on S. New Braunfels Ave., sells a large number of lottery tickets. When he has winner, he posts the cashed winning ticket in the store for customers to see.

Photo By BOB OWEN/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Wining lottery tickets are displayed at Nick's Mart on S. New Braunfels Ave.

As the economy remains lackluster and high unemployment lingers, many consumers are spending less on gas, buying less groceries and forgoing summer vacations.

But there is one area in which they don't appear to be tightening their belts: lottery tickets.

This year, the Texas Lottery Commission's sales are headed for a record high, on pace to reach about $3.83 billion, up from $3.74 billion last year.

The previous high was $3.77 billion, in 2006.

Lottery spending is also up in Bexar County. Sales grew from $254.2 million in 2009 to $264 million in 2010 and are on pace to clear $270 million this fiscal year, which ends Aug. 31.

The prize payout percentage also has increased this year: Sixty-four cents of every dollar spent has gone back to customers. But as is always the case with the lottery, those who play more are likely to lose more.

And which consumers are spending the most?

According to a San Antonio Express-News analysis of lottery sales statistics using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, residents in the state's poorer counties appear to be doing a disproportionate amount of the spending.

While this is not an exact analysis — some consumers buy tickets outside the counties where they live — lottery sales per resident are consistently higher in the poorest counties than in the wealthiest ones.

In 2010, in the 20 counties with the lowest average incomes — none were more than $14,720 — the average spending per resident 18 and older was 19 percent higher than in the 20 wealthiest counties.

Of the 207 counties with income levels less than the state average of $24,318, 151 had annual lottery spending levels above the state average of $204.57.

Bexar County ranks 76th in average income out of the state's 254 counties, with $22,557.

Topping the list of spenders was tiny Culberson County in West Texas (population: 2,476, average income: $18,609). There, residents spent on average a whopping $786 on tickets last year, or more than 4 percent of their average income.

In Bexar County, residents spent an average of $211 on the lottery, just less than 1 percent of their income and slightly more than the average Texan.

Charles Clotfelter, an economist and lottery researcher at Duke University, said it's difficult to pinpoint what drives up lottery sales but that “there's probably a desperate side to it.”

“Just ask yourself the question,” he said. “How is a person going to get his hands on $100,000? If you're a rich person, you could think of ways. If you're a poor or blue-collar person, there are two ways: legal gambling and illegal gambling.”

“Maybe lottery is the poor man's Dow Jones,” he added.

The lottery commission did not comment on the sales statistics. But in an email, the commission attributed the rise in sales to the success of a retailer cash incentive program, the popularity of the Powerball game, the two $20 Spotlight instant games — $500,000,000 Blockbuster and $500 Million Frenzy — and the addition of the Texas Lottery Black instant game.

While not all lottery studies necessarily show that low-income earners spend more than higher earners, Clotfelter said, “Every reputable study of the income pattern of lottery sales shows that it's a regressive form of revenue raising,” meaning that low-income earners spend a greater share of their earnings than higher earners.

A study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released in June found that the share of Texans earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line has grown from 41.1 percent in 1999-2000 to 45.7 percent in 2008-2009.

But as income relative to the poverty line has declined, lottery spending has increased by 45 percent since 1999.

While more lottery spending inevitably means less money in the pockets of most players, it's good news for gas stations and other lottery retailers, many of which could use a boost as they watch gas pump and in-store sales wane.

Retailers receive a 5 percent commission on sales, as well as a 1 percent bonus for selling a jackpot-winning ticket.

Nick's Mart on South New Braunfels Avenue is one of the highest-grossing vendors in Bexar County this fiscal year. According to statistics obtained from the lottery commission, the store had more than $1.2 million in lottery sales as of July 20.

Owner Nick Linga said the lottery is the main attraction in his store, and he makes sure customers know it. Outside, a bright sign reads, “The Luckiest Lotto Store In Town.”

Below it, another sign says the store accepts Lone Star cards.

In the store, Joan Carrizales, a nurse, said she buys tickets four times a week and has been playing since the state lottery opened in 1992. She was at Nick's to cash in $35 worth of winning tickets, although she spent $25 to get them. She estimated that she spends roughly $200 per month on the lottery.

Carrizales said she's definitely lost money playing over the years but keeps playing because it's entertaining.

“I grew up gambling,” she said. “My mother was a gambler.”

She said she sets aside gambling money and won't cut past a certain point into her paycheck. But she added, “What's money if it's not for spending? You're not gonna take it with you when you're gone.”